When I have asked my readers and other people on LinkedIn what topics would be most valuable to them as they pursue their careers in aerospace, PROJECT MANAGEMENT was a common answer. Reflecting on my own career move into project management, and then obtaining a project management certification (PMP), I agree that this is a very valuable set of skills.

This is a big reason why I have created a survey and new website dedicated to the topic of project management! If you want help solving your biggest challenge related to project management, please find the link at the end of this blog post. I would love to get your perspective to consider how I can help you more.

Project management skills are highly desired by companies, employers, and managers. Business (and life) is all about projects! Projects have a clear beginning, ending, and outcome of meaningful results that are delivered.

It was probably my most influential career change when I moved from being a technical specialist (engineer) to a project manager. Now that I also have my project manager certification, I see that taking a project management approach to many things in life is very beneficial and effective.

Here are 3 benefits of taking a project management approach to your career:

1. It provides relevant experience for a project management career change

If you want to make a career move into project management, you can learn by doing if you approach this goal as a project in itself! No matter what type of promotion or career change you want, in fact. Using dedicated project management skills such as goal setting, planning, scheduling, budgeting, and defining quality metrics are very practical and relevant. Another valuable skills is RISK MANAGEMENT. What are the risks to pursuing your current approach? Less considered by many–what are the risks of REMAINING in your current position and career path?

One of the most predictable yet challenging project manager interview questions is,

“Tell us about a time when you managed a project.”

Wouldn’t it be remarkable and impressive if you could describe how you have approached your career change as a dedicated project?! That would be guaranteed to make you stand out in a positive way, proving you take project management seriously AND know how to apply it in your professional life.

2. It builds your project management skills in your personal life

In your personal life, is communicating with other people a big issue or challenge for you? Or something that you really care about? How about making the most of your precious time? How about managing your money? Do you have a hobby or volunteer effort that you would love to take to the next level?

There are specific project management knowledge areas to address all of those goals and values. You can learn and apply tools and techniques from them TODAY and see immediate benefits in your life. You don’t necessarily need the project management certification for that. Plus, you’ll have another dramatic and memorable example to use in an interview!

3. The breakthrough you need is probably in one of the project management knowledge areas

Have you tried to figure out the root cause of what is holding you back? For many people it is their communication skills. Communication management is one of the project management knowledge areas. Maybe it is dealing more effectively with other people? That is stakeholder management. Maybe it is time management and prioritization? There is a lot within Schedule Management that can help you. Maybe you are still trying to figure out the root cause of what you need…there are powerful tools within Quality Management to assist you with that!

There are ten knowledge areas within the larger project management framework, as defined by the PMBOK – Project Management Body of Knowledge. I’ve achieved many incremental and consistent breakthroughs and improvements in my own effectiveness as I’ve learned and applied more knowledge, tools, strategies, and tactics from each of these areas.

After reading and thinking about these benefits, do you want more project management skills and opportunities? If so, I would greatly appreciate you telling me more about what you see as your biggest struggle or question that you need to overcome. Answer this short survey. At the end, you will get a link to the 3 most popular infographics on project management! Here is a peek at one of them:

Thank you for taking the initiatives to build a non-technical PM website! Like before, I am highly engaged in many of the topics that we have discussed. And this is in time for my transition into a PM career with a new job and hopefully a new PMP certification soon!

2 resources that I want to share with you and your readers here.

One is by Bruce Harpham on his project management hacks blog. I have interacted with him since his appearance on TECC’s podcast interview. He has just launched a course for project managers in career advancement. You can find his blog here.

Second is by Harry Hall on his PM South blog. Harry is a certified RMP (risk management professional) on top of his PMP. If you are interested in dealing with risks, look no further to his blog here in handling risks from a PM perspective.

Thanks for your comment David and links to these substantial, great resources! Bruce and Harry have a fantastic amount of high quality content on their websites regarding project management.
Best wishes to you as you make the most of your own transition into project management! Please let me know if there are particular issues or questions you would like to see me address. Thanks for completing my survey–I’ll be using those responses to focus my efforts. I’ll be eager to follow your progress and hopefully have some part in your success.